O-V-E-R-R-E-A-C-T-I-O-N

Ok, I'll admit I'm a sucker for any high drama at a spelling bee. But when you get an eliminated child's mother threatening to appeal to the Supreme Court? Well, then you have something special.

Such is the case with the recent spelling bee controversy extraordinaire out of Reno, NV, where 14 year old Sara Beckman (picture right) was wrongfully eliminated from competition after correctly spelling the word "discernible." Sara and her parents brought evidence to the bee authorities after the competition, but they said it was too late to give her another chance.

Then mom flipped.

"I'm a momma bear with her bear claws out," Cindy Beckman said. "Spellers and academic children don't get all the accolades that the sports kids do. This is one of their few chances to shine, to get attention and look what happens... I'll take this to the U.S. Supreme Court. I will take this to the International Court of law to fight for my baby's rights."

While Mrs. Beckman's maternal tenacity must be admired (feared?), it's unlikely the International Court of law will be able to add a middle school spelling dispute to its docket. Nevertheless, I admit I don't totally understand the rationale of the bee keepers here.

According to Washoe County School District spokesman Steve Mulvenon:

"She (Sara) spelled the word correctly, that is not in question. The issue is that there is a way and a process to do a timely challenge, and nobody challenged it until after the fact. The analogy that I would give, in the NFL, if the coach is going to throw a challenge flag, they have got to do it before the next play begins. Once you go beyond that point, you can't go back."

This sounds good, but I don't think the spelling bee folks really want to enforce the rules this way. A kid is supposed to appeal their elimination before the next kid gets up and takes a word?? Do they know what the result of this will be once kids understand the stakes and the rules? Every aspiring spelling bee champ--already maladjusted, slightly unhinged, and adrift at the fringe of a society that does not appreciate his awkward intelligence and special word skills--now believes that if he's ever to appeal a ruling he must throw a fit in the 10 seconds that follow the buzzer that pierces his world with the horrifying ring of failure.

Kids are gonna freak out.

You don't think this will lead to spellers staying at the microphone and screaming through tears that they said the word right?

Listen to me spelling bee organizers: you don't wanna deal with these kids right after they go out. If I learned anything from watching Spellbound that was it. You have to coddle these dark little geniuses. They are maniacally driven and they are comfortable dealing with letters; people they struggle with. Just let them come up later and talk. Otherwise you've signed on for instantaneous confrontations with stressed out 13 year old loners hanging by a thread with their dreams dashed and nothing to lose.

I think it will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court rules on this.